The earliest known ancestors of
this line of the Alessi and Abate
families include the DiGiugno, Cimino, and lo Guasto
families. The surname Alessi, a variation of the earlier Alessio, is
from Greek, meaning Alex or Alexander, from the Greek word
ἀλέξωor aléxo, meaning "to defend".

Modesto Alessi and Emmanuela Ferraro
of Marianopoli, Sicilia (Sicily),
were the parents of Calogero Alessi who was born in Marianopoli. Calogero
moved to Serradifalco after his first wife died, and married and Angela di Giugno.
She was born in the
village of Serradifalco(originally
Serra del Falco: which means Mountain of the
Hawk), Caltanissetta (Fort of Nicia,
then Fort of Nissa) province, Sicilia,
Italia. To see a chart of the descendants of Calogero
Alessi and Angela di Giugno, CLICK HERE.

The pronunciation of the town's name
in the Sicilian language is Serradifarcu
(sair-uh-dee-FAR-koo). Leonardo and Concetta had daughters Maria
and Rosa who died as children, and four daughters
who survived to adulthood: Concetta, Angela,
Maria, andRosa(Rosina). To seeRosa's ancestors,CLICK
HERE, to see her descendants, CLICK HERE.

I recently identified our first (known)
American relatives who are relatives of, but not direct descendants of Rosa Alessi: they are the Loquasto family. Like Rosa(and
us), they're descendants of Libertino
(Alberto) lo Guasto (born 1795 in
Serradifalco), and Francesca Lattuca. Libertino and Francesca's children were Concetta, Salvatore,
and Fedele lo Guasto. Concetta was
the great-grandmother ofRosa Alessi,
and Salvatore was the progenitor of the American Loquasto family.

The
village of Serradifalco is a small "Comune" in central Sicily, in the
Province of Caltanissetta. It is not far from the provincial capital, the City
of Caltanissetta, which was called "the fort of the Nissenes" by its
12th-century Arab occupiers. Today, a local nickname for the city is
"Nissa". The area of "Serra del Falco" was a vast
feudal "fief" or holding of the noble family
Moncada as early as about 1400 AD. The last Moncada to own
the fief in which the town of Serradifalco was eventually founded was Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada VI, a direct
descendant of El Cid, the legendary
champion of Spain. The Grifeo family acquired the fiefdom in
1617, and the incorporated Comune
(town) of Serradifalco was founded in 1640 by Baron
Francesco Grifeo. Since he was only five years old at the
time, the license was granted to his grandmother and guardian, Donna Maria Sarzana-Ventimiglia. Just
twelve years later, in 1652, the fief and town were acquired by
Baron Leonardo Lo
Faso Pietrasanta of Palermo, who was later named Duke of Serradifalco. Many
peasant legends whirl around the town's name. One of these, recounted by the
inhabitants of the "Falbaccaro" district, tells of a fabled
falcon or hawk that
lived in the cliffs during the time of the Moncada
princes.Serradifalco's coat of arms, showing a hawk,
is reproduced above.
Like mainland Europe, Sicily once had a feudal system, with Baroni (Barons),
Duci (Dukes), Signori (Lords), and Cavaliere
(Knights); and many Sicilian families have "noble"
origins. Even more come from peasant stock, and it was generally they who emigrated
to America and elsewhere, seeking a better life.

In 1836, Serradifalco's Duke Domenico Lo Faso Pietrasanta was the firstpresident
of Sicily's Commission of Antiquitiesand Fine Arts. He was
a public benefactor who sponsored the excavation and preservation of Sicilian historical
sites like the temple of Castor and Pollux in Agrigento. That year, sculptor Valerio
Villareale and archaeologistFrancesco Saverio Cavallari unearthed and re-erected three ancient fluted
Greek Doric columns there, by order of the Duke of Serradifalco. He was also a
reknowned archaeological historian and library curator, who produced the first modern
archaeological map of Sicily. In professional circles, he was called simply "Serradifalco". During the "Rivoluzione
Federale", a period of political upheaval in Italy, Serradifalco helped preserve Sicilian history by sending books on archaeology and architecture to the Library of Palermo
for safekeeping. Domenico died in Florence in
1863, at the age of ninety.

The town still has its
original layout, with ancient streets which now are called Via Roma, Corso Garibaldi,
Via Crucillà, etc.

It is about 1,600 feet above sea level, in
central Sicily, in an area rich in minerals and ores. The patron saint of
Serradifalco is San Leonardo Abate(St.
Leonard the Abbot). A French nobleman-turned-monk, he is also known as
the patron saint of prisoners of war,expectant mothers,
and those in danger from brigands, robbers, and thieves.
He died on November 6th in the year 559. His official church feast day is
November 6, but the town celebrates his festival each year on the second Sunday of August
(it's much warmer then!).

Serradifalco is a small country village, but there are some local
attractions:

the Chiesa Madre(Mother Church of S. Leonardo)
completed in 1678, with a gilded statue of San Leonardo,
sculpted by Giancarlo Viviano in 1661. The
church also claims a relic, a nail from the cross at Calvary; the Palazzo Ducale, or Ducal Palace, in the town square (Piazza del Barone);

Lago
Soprano(Soprano Lake, also called "Cuba"),
a migratory fowl preserve with unique hydrology. It was formed only
within the past hundred years, and has no surface streams flowing in or out;and